I'm Sorry
by Aspen-Writer
Summary: Duke Weaselton had his own reasons for committing crimes. He also had a reason for keeping his crimes a secret from three important mammals in his life. However, he soon learns that secrets cannot be kept hidden for long. Finished one-shot portraying another side to the bootlegging weasel.
**I'm Sorry...**

A soft orange light shone throughout the city of Zootopia as the sun began to set westwards. Many young mammal children were being called inside for dinner while older mammals were heading home after a long day of work.

However one mammal kept close to the shadows. The mammal, a thin scrawny weasel, dodged through the vast jungle of larger mammals and jumped to avoid being stepped on as he headed over to the nearest payphone. Duke Weaselton was the name of the weasel and most of the criminal mammals living in Zootopia would know him as "the duke of bootleg".

However Duke wasn't in the mood to try and sell bootlegged DVD's. There was something more important he had to do.

Reaching the payphone for middle sized mammals, he pushed a couple of coins into the slot and picked up the receiver and listened to the phone ringing.

It rang once…then twice…then thrice.

Duke closed his eyes and breathed in and out, muttering to himself. "C'mon Dukey boy…calm down…"

Finally a voice came from the other line.

"Hello?"

Duke's nerves lifted a bit as he heard the young voice. "David?"

"Yeah?"

"It's your dad…"

"Oh…hey dad."

"Hey," Duke smiled at the sound of his son's voice. "How's it going?"

"Oh, pretty good…"

"Yeah? Are Hunter and Riley doing okay?"

"Yeah, they're doing pretty good." David answered. "They're not here at the moment though. Hunter is over at a friend's house and Riley is at the library."

"Oh, okay...how's your Aunt Sabel treating you guys? Is she treating you good?"

"Yeah, she's great." David reassured his father. "I mean, she's not like you or mom...but she's doing her best and we like her so...yeah..."

"Oh that's good," Duke glanced over his shoulder. "Listen, I gotta be quick since it's uh…long distance and all that…"

"Oh yeah?" David asked.

"Yeah!" Duke forced a smile on his face. "I was sent abroad!"

"Oh…where?"

Duke froze at his son's question. Where? That was a good question. He hadn't thought about it and he blurted out the first country that came to mind.

"T-Taiwan!"

There was a long pause before David spoke again. "Where in Taiwan?"

"Oh…" Duke scratched the back of his head with his free paw. "Well I don't know…Japan, maybe?"

Duke heard his son sigh. "Dad…Japan is another country different than Taiwan…"

"Yeah well," Duke tried to recover from his slipup. "They just fly us in and we just go straight to the hotel and all that." He tried to laugh a bit. "Never know where we are half the time, ha!"

"Oh," David paused for a bit. "Sounds like you're on a good line…"

"Yeah," Duke nodded. "It's a good line."

There was another pause before David sighed again. "Dad…I have to tell you something."

"Oh sure, kiddo." Duke nodded. "Just tell me what's on your mind."

"I know the truth about you."

Duke felt his heart freeze. "What?"

"I know about how you stole those Night Howlers…and what you really do…theft, bootlegging films…all that…"

Duke's heart immediately sank. "Oh…so…you know about everything?"

"…yeah."

Duke lowered his head and placed a paw over his eyes. "Oh God…I'm a stupid idiot…"

"Why did you do it, Dad?"

Duke's heart twisted at the tone of sorrow and betrayal in his son's voice. He was silent for awhile, trying to think of what to say to his son.

"David…I—"

"Is money more important to you than your own kids?"

"No! No!" Duke cried out. "That ain't it!"

"Then how come you sent us to live with Aunt Sable while you stayed behind to commit those crimes?!"

The weasel thief fell silent to calm himself down. Finally after a long pause he took a long breath.

"David…I haven't told you this…but my life was absolute hell growing up. I grew up in a bad neighborhood...kicked out of the house by my own dad after years of being beaten up by him...that's no life for any kid. When you were born…I swore that you will never experience the same things I've experienced as a kid, same goes for Hunter and Riley. I wanted to give you kids the life you deserved."

Duke paused, waiting for his son to say something. When he didn't, Duke continued on.

"After your mom died...well, things just got harder. I tried getting a decent job, but I kept on getting rejected...and it just became too much. I thought letting you grow up with your aunt and away from this dump would give you guys the opportunity to have a life I never had. I stole those Night Howlers…because they offered me money…and I thought if I took the job then I can send the money over to you guys so you could have better opportunities in life. I'm not proud of some of things I've done, but everything I did…I did it for you guys. "

The weasel paused again to compose himself. He could feel tears starting to sting his eyes and he was trembling. He rubbed his eyes to keep the tears from falling and his voice trembled with emotion as he continued speaking. "I was going to tell you one of these days…but I kept on losing the courage to tell the truth…and I-I thought it would have been better for you guys to think…that I was traveling around for my job...but now you know the truth…I'm just a liar and a criminal…"

Duke closed his eyes. "And I just wanted to say that I'm sorry…I'm sorry for lying to you guys. I'm sorry for not being there for you…and I'm sorry…for being a terrible father…"

He opened his eyes again and this time he allowed the tears to flow freely. "But before you cut me off from your life…I just wanted to say that while I'm not proud of the things I've done, I'm so proud of you three. I love you guys so much…I never stopped loving you. I always thought about you every single night before I went to sleep…you three were the ones that kept me going every single day and every single night. If you want to cut me off from your life…I understand. But just remember…I love you, David. Tell Hunter and Riley that I love them too."

Duke took the phone away from his ear and was about to hang up when David's voice made him pause.

"Dad?"

Duke placed the phone back near his ear. "Yeah?"

"Um…" The younger weasel's voice quavered as he spoke. "I've earned some money for helping around in the neighborhood. I thought maybe…I can buy some tickets for the subway line…and we can come visit you?"

The despair and grief in Duke's heart slowly lifted when he heard this. Through his tears, he smiled. "Well sure you can! You can come visit anytime!"

"Oh, okay!" David gave a small laugh of relief. "I'll tell Hunter and Riley the plan then!"

"Yeah," Duke couldn't help but laugh as well. "And David, I promise you that I'm going to make things right. I'll be there like a dad should be there for their kids. We'll work it out some way. I promise."

"I believe you, dad. I'll tell Hunter and Riley that you called."  
"Oh, thanks David."

"No problem. And dad?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

One final tear slid down Duke's cheek, but it was a tear of joy. "Love you too son."

"See you soon."

"See ya'."

Duke remained on the line until he heard David hang up the phone. Wiping away the remaining tears, the weasel hung up and stepped outside the telephone booth. A raccoon was waiting in line and she blinked in surprise at the sight of a red eyed weasel. Duke narrowed his eyes at her. "Ah, what are ya' looking at, ringtail?"

With an insulted sniff, the raccoon stepped up to the payphone to make her call.

Duke dug his paws into his pockets and started down the sidewalk to head back to his living area. The sun was just setting over at the horizon and the lights were starting to come on.

As Duke continued on, he thought about his recent talk with David.

Maybe it was time to cut back on the theft and try again in searching for an honest job. The new job might not pay as much as the Night Howler job…but at least it would be honest.

Duke smiled again.

Yes…things will get better. He'll make sure of that.

####

 _Hey there my lovely readers! I'm back with another Zootopia fanfic! However, this is not about Nick or Rey. It's about another one of my favorite characters from the film, Duke Weaselton. I was chatting with another Duke Weaselton fan and I shared my head canon that he has three kids and the reason why he was a criminal was because he wanted to provide a better life for his kids. Then this fanfic came to mind._

 _This was my first time writing Duke and while I wanted to portray a another side to him, I still hoped I kept him in-character even if for a little bit. -_-;_

 _This fanfic was also based off the song "I'm Sorry" from "Bad Girls: The Musical". So go on YouTube and look it up if you're curious._

 _Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this fic and for those wanting Nick and Rey fanfics, don't worry. I'm working on a current fanfic about them and hopefully it will be uploaded soon. :)_


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